The lovely Princess Tiana, star of the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures animated feature film “The Princess and the Frog,” greets young fans at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The newest Disney princess will make her Disney Parks debut on Oct. 26 with meet and greets as well as in “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee!,” a jazzy cavalcade and lively musical production aboard the Liberty Belle Riverboat.

Raytheon is pleased to announce that the highly anticipated ride The Sum of All Thrills will open at Epcot’s Innoventions East on October 14. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place prior to park opening with Raytheon’s Chairman and CEO, William H. Swanson.

With any luck we shall have photos of the event to share with you.

Recently we also shared a first look at the technology used for the new ride here.

In this new featurette titled Ultimate Ghost Story, we are introduced further to the three ghosts that visit Scrooge over the course of the night (with all four characters being portrayed by Jim Carrey). This featurette also gives us our first good glimpse of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (or at least as good as it gets anyway). Enjoy!

While there are plenty of commercially available Disney-themed pumpkin stencils, there’s still quite a few to be found online for free. Per a reader’s request, I’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of some (well, most) of the resources online in which you can download free Disney-themed stencils to create your own jack-o-lantern this Halloween.

Not surprisingly, I must confess that most of these resources you have probably seen before if you’ve gone hunting for them in the past. However, I do believe I’ve managed to throw in a few that may not be all that commonly known.

BURBANK, Calif., Oct. 7 — Disney Music Group’s Hollywood Records has reason to celebrate this week, as they hold 3 titles in the top 15 of Billboard’s Top 200 Album chart with debuts by multi-platinum selling Breaking Benjamin (Dear Agony) at # 4, Selena Gomez & The Scene (Kiss & Tell) at # 9 and the multi-platinum selling Miley Cyrus (The Time of Our Lives) at # 11. This is the third time in 2 years for Hollywood Records to hold 3 titles in the top 15.

SAN DIEGO, BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BURBANK, Calif., Oct. 7 — From CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009® in San Diego, Verizon Wireless, builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, and Disney Interactive Studios today announced that “Disneyland Kart Racer” is available on Verizon Wireless phones.

“Disneyland Kart Racer” puts Verizon Wireless subscribers in the driver’s seat as they race through some of the most popular Disneyland Park attractions. Disney fans will recognize popular race environments inspired by Disney attractions such as the water boats of Pirates of the Caribbean, the rocket ships of Space Mountain, the crazy cars of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and the mining carts of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. “Disneyland Kart Racer” features eight different tracks modeled in dazzling 3D and wacky power-ups and weapons along the way.

Please Note: Although the RoboSim robotic arm has been designed by KUKA Robotics, ‘The Sum of All Thrills’ exhibit itself, located in Innoventions East, is fully designed and sponsored by Raytheon. The exhibit is expected to open within the month of October.

Jennifer Hudson, the multi-talented actress-singer whose accolades include an Academy Award for the movie “Dreamgirls” and a Grammy for “Best R&B Album” heads back to her hometown of Chicago to share childhood memories of the music, people and places that set the stage for her phenomenal success, in the hour-long primetime music special, “Jennifer Hudson: I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” airing this December on the ABC Television Network.

Hudson relives her childhood Christmases with musical performances shot on location at the small neighborhood church where she brought the congregation to its feet week after week; the music academy where she studied; and other Chicago sites. Hudson also visits with family members, childhood friends and others whose influences have been instrumental in her rise from humble beginnings to Hollywood stardom.